Android Thread

[stormy]

I wish they would tighten up Listen. It has tons of bugs. When streaming it will randomly start over, or switch to another podcast. It's much better to dl first then start it up. I got 4g at work now so i can let a podcast download for 15 seconds before i head out and then it works great.

[Nick]

Android Task Killers Explained: What They Do and Why You Shouldn't Use Them

Some of you know this already, but a big percentage of Android users treat the OS like it's Windows. The article explains how Android manages tasks and why it's not even memory usage that counts in performance issues most of the time.

I use the task killer in xScope sometimes, but my phone generally knows on its own when to close a program.

[Dyne]

Forgive me if I'm not clear in what I'm trying to ask but this is for my bro and not myself. He's the one with the Droid. Apparently there are firmware updates that you get a push notification for. He got one two weeks ago or so and told it to remind him later. Now he can't get it. He says the OS updates you can get on your own but the firmware updates you can only get when they push notify you? Is this true and what can he do to get the prompt again?

[Frogacuda]

Forgive me if I'm not clear in what I'm trying to ask but this is for my bro and not myself. He's the one with the Droid. Apparently there are firmware updates that you get a push notification for. He got one two weeks ago or so and told it to remind him later. Now he can't get it. He says the OS updates you can get on your own but the firmware updates you can only get when they push notify you? Is this true and what can he do to get the prompt again?

It's not exactly true that you can get get OS updates on your own. While Google publishes new versions of the android source publicly, you have to get upgrades that are actually compiled for your phone. You can do this either through carrier updates, or by rooting your phone (getting superuser access -- the equivalent of jailbreaking) and flashing custom firmware compiled by homebrewers.

If you want to manually check for an upgrade because you missed the prompt, you can just go to settings --> phone status --> system updates.

I'm seriously considering rooting my phone if Motorola doesn't hurry the fuck up with their upgrade. There's a custom firmware out but it's missing 3D acceleration, so I have to consider whether I'd rather have 3D games or access to a large chunk of the app store.

[Dyne]

He says he needs to update Froyo and this process doesn't do it. He's using an HTC Incredible.

[Frogacuda]

I wish they would tighten up Listen. It has tons of bugs. When streaming it will randomly start over, or switch to another podcast. It's much better to dl first then start it up. I got 4g at work now so i can let a podcast download for 15 seconds before i head out and then it works great.

This is related to limited space on your card. If you don't run out of space it doesn't seem to do this.

Stitcher seems to be a good alternative to Listen if you want.

[ChaoofNee]

I don't understand how myPod gets so many good reviews. The thing is a mess! Don't use it. Ever.

[stormy]

The full version of Angry Birds was released yesterday. It's ad supported so it's free.

[Andrew]

The Skype app for Android is the business. It's a bit of a memory hog, but it's so worth it.

[Razor Ramon]

I figured this is the best thread for me to ask this question:

On Sprint's service, which is the best Android phone to get? I'm fighting the urge to switch over to Verizon again because Sprint gives me everything I want for cheaper. It's what kept me from getting an iPhone.